Stamp
by madnorthnorthwest
Summary: An author's stories seem to come true. What he wrote happens just like he described it with striking similarities. And he's writing a new thrilling story. Should this come true, it would have a dramatic impact on the whole world.
1. The accident

**Stamp**

**  
**Chapter 1: The accident

The morning sun felt warm and nice on his face. John Jakob Stamp raised is head and looked out the window in front of his desk. On a tree in the front yard he spotted a little bird that was singing his song. He took off the reading glasses and stretched as his wife stepped into his office.  
"Good Morning, honey!", she greeted him, still tying up her robe.  
"Hey, good morning to you too." He waited for her to come closer and give him a kiss.  
"What are you doing? Are you writing again?", she asked looking at his computer screen.  
"Yes. It's amazing. It's like all these ideas just come to me as I write."  
She looked at him worried. "Since when have you been here?"  
"3.30 maybe."  
Her look went to the clock on the wall. "It's almost 8! Don't you think you need a break?"  
He turned away from her and started typing. "No, not right now. I have ideas that I must write down."  
"Have breakfast with me", she tried again.  
But he didn't agree. "Please, baby. Leave me alone, okay? I'm going to eat here in my office."  
She looked at him angry, but he didn't even notice it. So she left him alone, but not without slamming the door loudly.

He shrugged as the door closed behind his wife. For a moment, Stamp thought about taking a break from work to have breakfast with Beth but dismissed the thought as the phone rang. He picked up. "Stamp here!"  
"Hey John", he heard the friendly voice of Robert Cole. "How are you this morning? Isn't it a wonderful morning?"  
"It is, indeed. And I'm fine. What's the matter, Bob?"  
Stamp stood up from the chair and started walking around.  
"Oh, I'm just calling to tell you that your book sells like hot cakes and they will definitely publish the next one."  
"That's great news! When did you find out?"  
Stamp walked back to his office chair.  
"The publishing company called half an hour ago. See I told you, no reason to be concerned."  
"Right, I know. Anyway thanks for calling", Stamp said while sitting down.  
"No problem John. I just hope you already have an idea for another book."  
Stamp looked at his monitor and smiled. "Oh yes, I'm already writing."  
"Okay, then I don't want to keep you from working. Have a good one!"  
"Thanks, you too. See you tomorrow!"  
John Jakob Stamp hang up, read the last few lines he had written again and continued writing.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth sat in the kitchen with a cup of coffee, an egg in front of her and the newspaper in her hand. The radio was playing and the news were on. She just took some of the egg into her mouth as the voice on the radio announced something that curdled her blood. The food seemed to stick in her throat. She listened curiously.  
"Oh my god", she mumbled softly. Suddenly an orange cat jumped on her lap, letting out a protesting meow. Elizabeth Stamp dropped the fork frightened, since she was engrossed in what the man on the radio was saying. "Damn it, Lucy!", she said to the cat. " You scared me!"  
The cat looked at her interrogatively.  
"I know, I know. You're hungry. I'll give you something."  
Beth put away the newspaper, the cat jumped off her lap and ran to her cup. The woman filled the cup with some cat food and then went upstairs to her husband's office. As she stepped inside she found him in front of the computer just like 15 minutes ago when she came here to talk to him.  
"Honey, I really want to…" John began when he saw her.  
"I know", she interrupted him. "But you won't believe what they just said on the radio."  
He looked at her impatiently. "Well, what is it?", he asked when she didn't say anything.  
Elizabeth walked over to the TV and turned it on. She searched for a news channel and stepped back next to her husband.  
"There you go", she said when a picture of Princess Diana showed up next to the newscaster.  
Now John's interest was aroused as he listened to the voice of the newscaster.  
"Princess Diana died today after a car accident in Paris. Diana was alive when she was taken to Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital. But her internal injuries were too extensive. Two hours later, at 4.00, the doctors pronounced her dead. At 5.30, her death was announced at a press conference."  
John looked at his wife in disbelief. "But how can that be?"  
"I don't know, but it's exactly the way you described it in your book."  
He nodded absent-minded. "Yes, just like my story."


	2. Striking Similarities

Chapter 2: Striking similarities

"Ok, so where are we going, Mulder?", Dana Scully wanted to know.  
Mulder, who was driving the car, turned to her and said: "There was a bad car accident in Paris. A Mercedes Benz reached close to 120 mph and ended up in a deadly crash as the driver lost control of the car while being pursued by photographers on motorcycles. The Princess and her bodyguard survived and died later in the hospital. Her lover and the chauffeur died at the scene."  
"I know what happened, Mulder. I watch the news too. What does that have to do with us?"  
"That's not about Lady Diana. It's the synopsis of a book written by John Jakob Stamp. It was published 3 months ago."  
"Okaaay", she sighed. "But that doesn't explain why we are on our way to….you didn't even answer my question."  
Mulder ignored his partner's look of reproach. "Don't you think that the similarities are quite…"  
"Spooky?", Scully cut him off.  
"remarkable", he finished his sentence.  
"What's your point?"  
"Well, how could this man know what was going to happen?"  
"I don't know." Scully rolled her eyes. "He didn't."  
"So he just wrote a novel and a few months later exactly the same thing happens just like he described it? That's pretty unlikely, don't you think?"  
"I think it's pretty unlikely that this man knew what's going to happen to Lady Diana. Unless he was somehow involved in it."  
"So that is your explanation, Scully?", he taunted. "It was an accident. And Stamp wasn't even on the same continent."  
"Alright, so what's your suggestion?"  
Mulder stopped at a traffic light and looked at Scully. "I don't think it was coincidence."  
"He predicted it?", Scully demanded.  
"In 1898, 14 years before the sinking of the Titanic, Morgan Robertson published a novel which features a ship, the Titan, '..which was the largest craft afloat and the greatest of the works of men'. The great ship had been built with 19 water-tight compartments and was capable of staying afloat, even if nine of them were full of water. Because of the latest technology that went into her creation, and made it so superior, the Titan carried only the minimum number of lifeboats required: 24, with places for 500 of her 3,000 passengers. Eventually, in his book, the Titan struck an iceberg on the starboard side, while in the North Atlantic on her maiden voyage. The month was April. Only 13 people survived."  
"Fascinating." Scully commented unimpressed. "And where do we come into play?"  
"Elizabeth Stamp, John Stamp's wife, called me yesterday. Said she had read about me and my work. She is worried because her husband works on another story."  
"About what?"  
"I don't know. She didn't want to tell me. Said she'd rather talk to me in person about it."

10 minutes later they arrived at the Stamp residence. They got out of the car and walked up the stairs to the wooden porch. Special Agent Fox Mulder knocked on the door. An elderly lady opened up.  
"How can I help you?", she asked.  
Mulder immediately showed his FBI badge. "Elizabeth Stamp? We are Agents Mulder and Scully."  
"Oh Mr. Mulder, of course. Come in please."  
The house was full of model airplanes. Fox Mulder looked at some of them carefully. "These are nice", he noted.  
"Yes, John assembled them. It's his hobby."  
"Where is he?"  
"He's not here right now. We can talk over there."  
Elizabeth led them into the kitchen where they sat down. "Would you like something to drink?", she asked.  
"A glass of water, please", Mulder said.  
"Me too", Scully added.  
Beth got a glass of water for each one of them and took a seat.  
"So, what's it you couldn't tell me on the phone?", the agent questioned.  
"I don't know if you have read John's last book."  
Mulder negated.  
Beth took a sip of water. "I'm concerned because what happened to Diana is exactly what John's last book is about."  
"Mrs. Stamp", Mulder began. "Has your husband ever had any kind of visions or dreams? Anything like that?"  
Beth shook her head. "No. If so, he didn't tell me."  
Mulder had a thoughtful look on his face.  
"But he said that those ideas just come to him", the elderly woman continued.  
"And you said that your husband works on a new story, is that right?"  
"Yes. That's why I contacted you, Mr. Mulder."  
"I see. So, what is this new novel about?"  
Mrs. Stamp took another sip of water before she answered the question. "The assassination of the US President."


	3. Getting started

Chapter 3: Getting started

„And you really believe that this is going to happen just because your husband writes a book about it?", agent Dana Scully wanted to know.  
A soft purring sound was heard as a cat entered the room through the window and hopped on Mrs. Stamp's lap. She started petting the cat and answered Scully's question with another question: "I guess you don't?"  
"No Ma'am. Actually, the President of the United States is the best-guarded man in the world."  
"They killed several US Presidents", Stamp countered.  
Mulder looked at Scully as if she had just lost a competition, then turned to the other woman. "Mrs. Stamp. Do you know when or  
where the assault is supposed to happen?"  
"No, that's all I know. You'd have to ask John."  
" When will he be back?"  
"He won't be back before 11.00 tonight, probably later. I'm afraid you'll have to wait until tomorrow."  
"Somehow, I expected that", Scully commented.  
Mulder ignored the sarcasm in his partner's voice and asked Elizabeth Stamp if she knew a good motel close-by.  
"That's easy", the elderly woman replied. "We only have one."

On their way to the motel that Mrs. Stamp had told them about, Mulder stopped in front of a little store.  
"What's wrong now?", Scully enquired. And when Mulder left the car, without saying anything, she added: "Where are you going, Mulder?"  
No answer.  
"Mulder?"  
Still nothing.  
"Mulder!"  
Finally he turned around. "I'll be right back, Scully."  
A few minutes later he came back with a plastic bag.  
"What's that?", she asked and looked into it.  
"You can't be serious, Mulder."  
"Why?"  
Scully took out the content of the bag. "'Death of a Princess' by John Jakob Stamp", she read  
She flipped the book open and began to read a few lines.  
"It's part of the investigation", Mulder explained and started the car.

The motel was grungy and old.  
"Oh my", Scully uttered when she saw it.  
"I bet it's better than it looks", Mulder said not very convincing and got out of the car.  
They walked over to the check-in. They were in a small room with wooden furnitures and an ugly wallpaper. There was nobody in there. Mulder pushed the bell and a bald man appeared.  
"What can I do for you?", he asked with a way too friendly voice and a huge smile on his face.  
"We'd like to rent two rooms."  
The man had a look at some notes in a book. "Oh I'm sorry, but there's only one room left. There's an annual festival in town tomorrow. It's famous for it's cake-eating contest. People come here from all over the country in order to see it."  
"Reallly?" Mulder was enthusiastic.  
Scully wasn't. She folded her arms across her chest and rolled her eyes. "The festival takes place once a year and that is just tomorrow?"  
The man behind the counter shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah!"  
"Ok", Mulder said. "We'll take that room."  
Scully immediately pulled Mulder a few steps away. "Mulder! You can't do that. It goes against the Bureau's policy of male and female agents consorting in the same motel room while on assignment."  
"We don't have a choice, do we?"  
He stepped back to the counter. Scully was speechless.

Scully followed her partner into their motel room and noted: "It's not better than it looked."  
Mulder threw his stuff on the bed then he let himself fall down on it and let out a deep-drawn sigh.  
"Uh this is good Scully. Come on and try it." He tapped on the bed next to him.  
"I think you should sleep over there." She pointed at a sofa.  
Mulder followed her finger with his eyes.  
"But I have problems with my back", he complained.  
"Yeah sure. You'll take the sofa, Mulder!"  
He stood up and took Stamp's novel out of the plastic bag.

"I'd really like to get some rest now. Turn out the lights, Mulder", Scully said.  
"One more page, Scully."  
"It's already 11.21. You've been reading for hours. Turn off the lights!"  
Mulder, who lay on the sofa, put the book aside and turned off the lights. "Good night agent Scully!"


	4. After midnight

Chapter 4: After midnight

In the middle of the night Scully woke up. She stared into the darkness for a while and listened to the sounds around her. There wasn't much to hear. In front of the motel a car pulled up and somewhere a dog barked. Then she heard a sound not far away. It came from inside the room. She rolled over to the nightstand. A dull feeling dispersed through her stomach as she carefully turned on the bedside lamp. She looked in the direction where the sound came from. On the sofa across from her lay Mulder snoring comfortably. Now she remembered that she had to share the room with him. She turned around and glanced at the clock radio on the nightstand. 3.30, way too early to get up. So she just rolled out of bed and went into the bathroom. She had to cover her eyes from the bright light in there. Scully leaned over the sink, cupped some water in her hands and drank. When she came back out a few minutes later and passed Mulder on her way to bed, Scully heard him mumbling. At first she wanted to ignore it and go back to bed but then she realized he was talking in his sleep, so she stepped closer and listened.  
"Oh that's so good, Beckie", she heard him say. She wanted to wake him up but decided to keep listening. She couldn't understand everything but she tried hard and heard: "A little lower…yeah right there!" and "Uh, don't stop it, Beckie."  
She decided it was better not to wake him and sneaked back to bed. She thought about that Beckie until she fell asleep. And it took her almost an hour to fall asleep again. Mulder and the women had always been a mystery to her.

Mulder had already gotten dressed and was just making his "bed" when Scully woke up.  
"My god! What time is it?" She asked blinking. The morning sunbeams tickled her face.  
"7 o'clock. Time to get going", Mulder replied wide awake.  
Scully slowly got out of bed. "Man, why didn't you wake me up, Mulder!"  
Unconsciously, she sounded much more aggressive than she wanted to. She was apparently upset about the "Beckie dream".  
"You were sleeping so soundly I didn't want to wake you."  
Scully strolled towards the bathroom. "Yeah, I didn't sleep very well."  
Mulder watched her disappearing in the bathroom. He didn't know what he had done wrong or why she was so upset.  
"Although you had the bed? I had to sleep on the sofa!", he tried to defend himself.  
"Oh well, you did sleep like a log", she said and closed the door.  
Mulder even made her bed and searched for his wallet and the car keys. Then he took the Stamp novel and continued reading. He could read 4 pages before Scully came back out of the bathroom. She had taken a shower. She had a towel wrapped around her body and another one on her head. It definitely caught Mulder's attention.  
"Keep reading, Mulder. Don't look, okay?"  
"Okay!", he assured her and hid behind the book. He had already read more than half of it.  
Scully walked over to her suitcase, anxious not to lose the towel. She took out some clothes and got dressed. It looked pretty amusing how she tried not to show too much skin. She felt observed, but every time she turned around and glanced at Mulder, he seemed engrossed in the novel.  
When she was done she cleaned up her things and turned to Mulder. "Alright, Time to get going."  
Mulder put the book aside and followed his partner out the door.  
In the car Mulder stuck the key in and while he turned it in the ignition, he softly mentioned over the engine noise: "But I did look!"

On their way to the Stamp residence they stopped by a little restaurant to have an ample breakfast. Everybody in there watched them. It had probably got around that the FBI was in town and everybody wanted to see those ominous people that work for the government. But obviously Mulder and Scully didn't come up to those people's expectations because after a while more and more people abandoned their bad tasting coffee and left the uncomfortable restaurant. By the time the two agents were done, they were the only customers in there.


	5. Like a memory

Chapter 5: Like a memory

The morning was cool but sunny. A couple of clouds passed through the otherwise blue sky. The agents came across John Jakob Stamp in his front yard. He eagerly typed on a laptop. Obviously he was up to date concerning today's technology.  
"Good morning Mr. Stamp. Wonderful weather, isn't it?", Scully greeted the author.  
Stamp looked up from his laptop and replied: "It is, indeed. I really enjoy working outside on a day like this."  
Mulder smiled friendly and dumb.  
"But who are you actually?"  
"Agents Mulder and Scully, Sir."  
No reaction.  
"Didn't your wife tell you we'd come?"  
John Jakob shook his head. "No, she didn't say anything. What's it about?"  
"Well, she called me because she's concerned about your new book."  
Stamp glanced at what he was writing, then asked in confusion: "Assassination?"  
Mulder nodded: "Is that the title?"  
"For the time being."  
Mulder 's look roamed around the well kept yard. "This is beautiful", he noted.  
Stamp noticed that this conversation would take a while so he carefully put the laptop down on the grass, took a cane instead and stood up. The author was a lot smaller than Mulder and just a little taller than his partner.  
"Why don't you let me show you around?", he asked formally.  
"Sure!", Mulder agreed and followed the elderly man, who walked with a limp, toward a little pond.  
As Scully followed behind Mulder she noticed a motion behind the kitchen window in the house. As she looked closer she recognized Elizabeth Stamp standing there holding the cat, watching them.  
Scully stopped to look back at her. Suddenly Mrs. Stamp walked away from the window. Scully moved on to catch up with Mulder and Mr. Stamp.  
They were standing next to the pond. Scully joined them and turned to her partner.  
"I'll go inside and talk to Elizabeth Stamp while you're here with Mr. Stamp", she announced.  
"Okay", Mulder replied but Scully was already on her way inside. He watched her walking away. She moved gracefully and although he'd never admit it, not even to himself, he enjoyed watching her. He liked the way she moved. As she disappeared behind a corner to the front of the house Mulder turned to John Jakob Stamp again.  
"There are turtles in the pond", Stamp explained. "There is one, see? Right there!"  
He pointed at a stone that was half inside, half out of the water. Mulder nodded as he spotted the tiny green creature.  
"They like that place", the author chuckled.  
"Do they get any bigger than that?" Mulder asked. Not that he actually cared, he was just being polite.  
"Oh yes. That is a young one, they do get bigger but not too big, you know. They are my hobby."  
"You seem to have lots of hobbies, Mr. Stamp."  
Stamp looked at him in confusion.  
"I saw your model airplanes", Mulder explained.  
"The author smiled. "Oh that. Yes, that's another hobby of mine."  
Without any further explanation, Stamp turned around in order to return to the wooden bench he had been sitting on. He walked slowly with the cane on his right side. Mulder stayed close behind him.  
After he had sat down he looked at Mulder and said: "But you did not come here to talk about my hobbies, did you?"  
Mulder took a seat next to Mr. Stamp. "No, of course not."  
"Well then, Mr. …"  
"Mulder"  
"Mr. Mulder, Why exactly are you here?"  
"That book you wrote, 'Death of a Princess' it tells the story of Princess Diana and her boyfriend Dodi. In particular, their last evening."  
Stamp folded his hands as if about to tell the FBI man something important. "Not really", he responded. "I don't know if you know the book."  
Mulder nodded. "I bought it yesterday and I'm almost through."  
"Good. Then you know that the Princess' name is actually never mentioned. Neither is the name of her boyfriend."  
Mulder nodded again. "I noticed that. But the circumstances are basically the same. You can't deny that."  
"I'm aware of that."  
"And", Mulder added. "You did mention the names of the paparazzi who chase the Mercedes just before it crashes in the tunnel, which on its own is a remarkable resemblance."  
"Yes right, the paparazzi."  
Mulder cocked his head to one side. "Those are also the names of the paparazzi who chased Diana."  
"Is that so? I'm not familiar with that. I'm just an old man who writes books."  
"Books that are predictions of future events", Mulder insisted.  
"Mr. Mulder. I want to make this clear: I am not a fortune-teller or a prophet. I can't predict the future. I just get these ideas and write about them."  
"I see", Mulder said. "You say you get these ideas. How? Do you have visions?"  
Stamp began to lose his patience. "No. Holy smoke! I don't have visions. It's just there. Like my last birthday, or the birth of our son. It's like a memory."  
Mulder sat and listened carefully.


	6. Temper Tantrum

Chapter 6: Temper Tantrum

Scully could feel the look of her partner following her. She couldn't deny that she liked having that effect on Mulder but she didn't look back. She just walked around the corner and to the front door. She rang twice. Mrs. Stamp still had the orange cat in her arms when she opened the door.  
"Mrs. Scully, what a surprise", she said.  
_Yeah sure, _Scully thought.  
"Mhm", she said.  
Elizabeth looked at her queryingly.  
„Why didn't you tell your husband about our visit?", Scully asked curiously.  
"Oh", the woman replied, checking to see if anybody could hear them. As she saw her husband and Mulder strolling back to the bench she stepped aside and held the door open. "We better talk inside. Please come in."  
Mrs. Stamp took her again into the tastefully furnished, cheery bright kitchen with skylight, plenty of counter space and cupboards. Beige linoleum tiling that couldn't have been older than a few years. The pattern was simple but nice. Nothing dispensable seemed to stand around. There was a toaster, a coffee maker, and a microwave. That was about all. Scully wondered whether the cupboards were full of unnecessary kitchen implements or looked as spartanic as the rest of the room. A fruit bowl adorned the kitchen table. They sat on the padded spindle back chair that fitted perfectly into the kitchen. From here they could see Mulder and John Jakob Stamp outside in the front yard.  
"Will you answer my question now?", Scully reminded Mrs. Stamp.  
"Well, I didn't tell him about you because I didn't want to upset him. John Jakob is a very ill man."  
"I noticed he uses a cane", Scully said.  
Elizabeth nodded stricken. "He has clogged veins. He already had one bypass operation and there will be another one at the end of the year because he hasn't felt very good recently. Two years ago, John had a stroke. His right side was paralyzed and he could barely speak. It also affected his memory. But he recovered pretty well, as you can see. He worked hard. Lots of therapy, you know. All that's left is the limping." She stared out the window and watched the two men for a moment. "And sometimes he forgets to put down the toilet seat." She chuckled.  
Scully bashfully looked down at the table.  
"Oh no!", she heard Elizabeth exclaiming.  
Scully looked up. "What?" She followed her look. John Jakob Stamp was agitatedly waving his hands, apparently bitching at Mulder who himself just sat there and let it wash over him.  
"Oh no!", Mrs. Stamp repeated and jumped up to run out of the room. Scully followed her through the doorway, out of the house and to the bench.  
"What's going on here?", Elizabeth wanted to know.  
"Mulder!", Scully immediately blamed her partner, who just sat there looking puzzled at the two women.  
"This guy thinks I'm a freak. A crazy, vision-having, freak.", Stamp yelled.  
His wife comfortingly put her arms around him. "Shhh, it's ok, John."  
"Why did you call them?", the elderly man complained.  
"I'm sorry, honey. I just want your best."  
"What did you do, Mulder?" Scully asked in dismay.  
"Nothing", he stood up and had to look down on her, since she was so much shorter than him. "I just asked him about his book and how he knew about Diana's death before the accident had happened."  
He spoke softly so that only Scully could hear him.  
"Well, you must have done something. I mean Stamp's really upset."  
"I swear I didn't do anything. We just talked."  
"It's time for your medicine", Mrs. Stamp said to her husband and turned to the two FBI agents. "I think you better leave us now. John needs his medicine and then he needs some rest."  
She said this with a voice that didn't allow any objection.  
"But I haven't even asked him about his upcoming novel, yet", Mulder said.  
"I'm sorry Mr. Mulder. But this is not a good time."  
Mulder glanced fleetingly at Stamp. The author stood next to his wife like a little boy who was being protected by his mother.  
"But you asked us to come our here!", he tried again.  
"True. And now I ask you to go."  
She turned away and led her husband towards the front door.  
Mulder wanted to speak again but Scully pulled him away. "Come on, Mulder. Let's go!"


	7. In the library

Chapter 7: In the library

„So what do we do now?", Scully asked while driving down this old, washed out street which was supposed to be the main street of the little town. The grungy houses in this quarter reminded her of the motel they stayed in. They passed the book store Mulder had been to.  
"I don't know. You are the one who gave in immediately", Fox Mulder taunted and watched her, waiting for the response.  
"Well", Scully defended herself. "You are the one who caused Mr. Stamp to freak out."  
Mulder's mouth dropped open. He pretended to be outraged about that. "What? I didn't do anything. I told you we just talked."  
"Sure", Scully answered and looked out of the driver's side window.  
"Whom do you believe?", Mulder wanted to know. "Some crazy, old author you've never met before or your partner you've known for years?"  
"Hmmmm", she said pretending to really think about that. "What was the first option?"  
For a second Scully remained serious. Then she smirked mischievously.  
"Ha, I got you!"  
"No you didn't", Mulder argued. "I knew you weren't taking this seriously."  
She stopped smirking. "Oh I do! I meant that. I really think you said something that made him mad."  
"I just…", Mulder was taken by surprise. "I didn't. We talked."  
He looked helpless.  
Scully enjoyed that for a moment.  
"Got you again!"  
"Ok, stop that!", Mulder said.  
For a few minutes nobody said anything. Scully just had a huge smile on her face.  
Then Mulder spoke.  
"The library. Drive us there."  
Scully looked puzzled. "The library? What are we going to do at the library?"  
"I want to look something up. Research, you know."  
"Mhm, okay. Where is the library?"  
Mulder looked out the windshield.  
The area they were in now looked better, with stores and a baseball field where kids were playing. But nothing close to a municipal building.  
He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not even sure if they have one."

Half an hour later they had found the library. And the city hall. And the post office.  
The library was an inconspicuous building of medium size. Only a sign indicated that this was the county library.  
"There we go", Scully said and drove up.  
The interior wasn't much more remarkable. There were a few students sitting at tables and a nice looking librarian behind a counter. She was busy reading a book. Mulder approached her.  
"Excuse me", he said.  
The woman looked up from her book and quickly took off her glasses in order to hide them under the counter as she saw Mulder.  
"Hello, Sir!", she responded. "Can I help you?"  
Mulder nodded. "I would like to see everything you have about parapsychology."  
The librarian rushed over to a computer on the other end of the counter and typed something in.  
"Hmmm", she uttered after a few seconds, then typed in something else.  
Scully waited at the door and watched the whole thing sceptically.  
"Okay", the woman behind the counter announced and made some notes on a piece of paper. "Just follow me".  
Mulder waved Scully to come with them.  
They walked down three long aisles until the librarian finally stopped and pulled out some books. She did the same in another aisle and in the end Mulder held eight books in his arms.  
"That should be it", the woman said.  
"Thank you", Mulder responded.  
The woman nodded and rushed back to the counter.  
"Let's sit there", Scully said and pointed at an empty table.  
The two agents walked over to that table and began to work.  
They had books about extrasensory perception, prophecy, telepathy and other phenomena.  
"What are we looking for?", Scully asked, having a look at the first book.  
"Anything that matches John Stamp's situation", he explained, looking at a book himself.


	8. Precognition

Chapter 8: Precognition

It took them almost three hours to find something.  
"I think I got something here", Scully mentioned and began to read.  
"Precognition is the direct knowledge or perception of the future, obtained through extrasensory means. Precognition occurs most often in dreams. It may also occur spontaneously in waking visions, auditory hallucinations, flashing thoughts entering the mind, and the sense of knowing. Usually the majority of precognitive experiences happen within a forty-eight hour period prior to the future event, most often it is within twenty-four hours. In rare cases precognitive experiences occur months or even years before the actual event takes place."  
Mulder nodded slowly while listening. As Scully had ended he said: "Yeah, I've heard about that. But something still doesn't fit."  
"What, Mulder? What else? What is it? Not enough alien involvement?"  
Mulder ignored that remark.  
"Before we came here", Mulder told his partner. "I did a little background check on John Jakob Stamp."  
"And?"  
"Well, after the completion of an apprenticeship as a clock maker in 1954, he studied English and journalism. After that he applied for a job at several local newspapers. Without success. So he finally had to work as a clock maker. And that is what he did until two years ago when he suddenly retired and began to write books. All of a sudden."  
Scully closed the book and put it aside. "Two years ago, you said? Stamp's wife told me that two years ago John had a stroke…"  
"That's it!", Mulder cut her off. "That must be the reason, that's probably when it began."  
Scully frowned. "What?"  
"The precognition, Scully. You just read it yourself."  
She grimaced. "Look Mulder, I don't see how a stroke could make somebody foresee the future. I don't believe that _anyone_ can predict or perceive the future in _any way_. I think it's like a Déjà vu. Several psychoanalysts attribute déjà vu to simple fantasy or wish fulfilment..."  
"So he wanted Diana to die?", he cut her off again.  
"Some psychiatrists ascribe it to a mismatching in the brain that causes the brain to mistake the present for the past. Déjà vu has also been firmly associated with temporal-lobe epilepsy. Reportedly, déjà vu can occur just prior to a temporal-lobe epileptic attack. People suffering an epileptic seizure of this kind can experience déjà vu during the actual seizure activity or in the moments between convulsions."  
Mulder dismissed that by shaking his head.  
"But we're not talking about Déjà vu, Scully."  
"I know. But think about it. Maybe the stroke had similar effects and his brain just mixes up past experiences."  
Mulder stood up and took his coat. Scully watched him puzzled, then decided to follow him. They let the librarian know that they were done and went to the car. Outside Mulder turned to her and asked: "Do you know where exactly the stroke was?"  
He opened the drivers door and got into the car. Scully got in on the other side.  
"No", she said when they were both inside. "I don't know, Mulder."  
He started the car. "Could you find out for me if I drive you to the hospital? Let them show you his medical records."  
He pulled out and headed for the hospital.  
The Community Hospital was much easier to find than the library. Mulder stopped in front of the door and got out of the car. He walked around it to open the door on Scully's side. She got out as well and was on her way to the entrance when she noticed that Mulder didn't follow but walked back around the car, instead.  
"Where are _you_ going?", she shouted uncertain.  
Mulder opened the driver's door. "I'm gonna investigate the environment this man lives in. Maybe it helps putting myself in his position."


End file.
